Abrasion tools are often used for polishing, sanding, buffing, or refinishing surfaces such as countertops and floors constructed of tile, concrete, terrazzo, stone, wood, etc. A user generally uses an abrasion pad or disk connected to a power tool (power polisher, power polisher, power drill, etc.), actuates the power tool thus causing the abrasion disk to rotate at a high rotational velocity. The user then glides the abrasion disk over the plane of the surface to be polished or roughened, such that the abrasion disk grinds off a small amount of the surface material. This may be accomplished with an abrasion disk alone, or in combination with an abrasive compound.
When using a power tool for surface finishing, the edge of the rotating abrasion disk may unintentionally “bite” into the adjacent vertical surfaces such as backsplashes, walls, cabinets, faucet fixtures, etc., causing damage to the vertical surface and may result in costly and time consuming repairs. Also, the tool may “jump” or become momentarily unbalanced when the rotating abrasion disk contacts a vertical surface, and this can adversely affect the quality of the surface finish. To avoid this, users can use utmost care and slow down the polishing processes so as to be careful to avoid marring or damaging the adjacent vertical surface. This is not a very effective solution because it wastes time, causes user muscle strain, and because the power tools rotate at such a high velocity, it can be unwieldy and contact vertical surfaces despite the user's best efforts to the contrary.
Thus, users universally mask these areas prior to polishing, and use care when approaching vertical surfaces with the power tool. This, too, however, has its drawbacks. First, masking takes significant time, and the masking material can nevertheless be ineffective if the abrasion disk takes a significant “bite” into and through the protective material down to the vertical surface. Second, the user still must use utmost care when approaching masked vertical surfaces with the power tool in order to create a uniform finish that is consistently close to the vertical surfaces. Third, masking still does not solve surface finish issues associated with the tool “jumping” or becoming unbalanced when the abrasion disk contacts a masked vertical surface, because masking is only intended to protect the surface being masked. Finally, even when surfaces are masked, the user must still be more precise in order to avoid making contact with the masked vertical surfaces, thus wasting time.
Therefore, what is needed is a device that protects surfaces that jut away from the polished surface, such that masking and other methods preparation and precautions are eliminated or reduced.